A Pilgrim People | Thursday | 9/3

You're in the Story

Hebrews 11:39–12:2

All these people didn’t receive what was promised, though they were given approval for their faith. God provided something better for us so they wouldn’t be made perfect without us. So then, with endurance, let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. Let’s throw off any extra baggage, get rid of the sin that trips us up, and fix our eyes on Jesus, faith’s pioneer and perfecter. He endured the cross, ignoring the shame, for the sake of the joy that was laid out in front of him, and sat down at the right side of God’s throne.

It's easy to read Hebrews 11 as a collection of stories about extraordinary people from long ago.

Abraham. Sarah. Moses. David.

But then something remarkable happens at the end of the chapter:

“God provided something better for us so they wouldn't be made perfect without us.”

Suddenly, we're in the story.

The story of God's faithfulness didn't end with Abraham or Moses. It didn't end with the apostles. It didn't end with the generations of faithful Christians who came before us.

The story has reached us.

We have inherited stories of faithfulness from previous generations. But we aren't spectators sitting in the audience applauding what they did.

We're the characters now.

Future generations will inherit something from us. They will receive stories about the way we loved, served, forgave, sacrificed, welcomed, persevered, and followed Jesus—or about the ways we didn't.

One day, somebody else will tell the story of this generation.

We're writing that story right now.

Reflect

If future generations told the story of your faithfulness, what would you hope they would say?

Pray God, thank you for those who faithfully carried the story of your grace before me. Give me courage to carry that story faithfully in my generation and pass it on to those who come after me. Amen.